Teaming up with Marc Jacobs for her Met Gala look, Janelle Monáe said that the goal was to find something that was “the perfect blend of Janelle Monáe and Marc Jacobs with the theme.” Wearing her signature black and white stripes in a gown with a cape as well as a shoulder-padded jacket, Monáe, working with stylist Alexandra Mandelkorn, was one of many to include an homage to Catholic imagery with a hat that cast a halo around her head as well as a silver head scarf.

But as she told Vanity Fair on the red carpet, her clothing always comes with a meaning, with or without a theme for the evening. “I use fashion to make lots of statement,” she said. “My black and white is meant to honor my working-class parents. My mother was a janitor, both my fathers, my biological father and my stepfather, were custodians, sanitation workers, post-office workers. For me, I try to say something as much as possible, say something that means something to other people outside of myself. Sometimes I don’t. Tonight I am happy to be part of this theme and happy to be with Marc Jacobs.”

Monáe, who tweeted back in 2012 that “Whatever faith or religion makes you a better peaceful more loving compassionate person is the one you should chose & practice,” had a broad approach to the night’s religious theme. “And you know, God is love,” she said on the red carpet. “This is a great time to just be alive and be an artist and be in a room with your idols and icons and tell them that you love them.”

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